The masked Islamic State militant known as “John” who beheaded an American journalist and threatened the life of another in a horrific video is one of three British-born killers who are referred to as “the Beatles” by their hostages, the Guardian reported.

John is apparently a jihadist executioner and leader in the Syrian city of Raqqa, a stronghold for the Islamic State, known for being “intelligent, educated and a devout believer in radical Islamic teachings,” according to the Guardian. The threesome got their nickname because of their shared nationality with the legendary band.

After the brutal video made its rounds Tuesday evening, many realized that the vicious killer had a British accent. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the killer “on the face of it appears to have been a British person,” adding that there is a “significant number” of British people who have joined the Islamic State cause.

“We’ve been saying for a very long time that there are significant numbers of British nationals in Syria, increasingly in Iraq, and one of the reasons why what is going on in Syria and Iraq is a direct threat to our own national security is the presence of significant numbers of our nationals who may at some stage seek to come back to the UK with the skills, the tradecraft that they’ve learned working with these terrorist organizations, potentially posing a threat to our domestic security here in the UK,” Hammond said in the interview.

Foley’s killer spoke with a British accent in the shocking video of Foley’s murder, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that while he hadn’t yet been identified, “from what we have seen it looks increasingly likely that it is a British citizen.”

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Thousands of Westerners have flocked to join the Islamic State insurgents in Syria and Iraq, with US Attorney General Eric Holder recently saying they could number more than 7,000 — including “dozens” of Americans. Terrorism experts in the UK say their country’s jihadists are among the Islamic State’s most “vicious and vociferous” members.

“We have seen British fighters out there are acting as suicide bombers, operating as executioners,” one told The Telegraph.

Increasing numbers of young Brits were being “seduced” by the Islamic State and “propelled” to join the terror group through online propaganda — like the video of Foley’s beheading, said Shiraz Maher of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London.

Hammond said counter-terrorism officials were analyzing the video to try to identify Foley’s killer.

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The gruesome video shows the execution of the 40-year-old journalist, who disappeared in Syria on Thanksgiving Day 2012. At the end of the video, the Islamic State terrorist warns that journalist Steven Joel Sotloff will be the next American to lose his life if President Obama does not end airstrikes in the area.

“The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision,” he said.

Sotloff, a Miami native and Time reporter, was abducted near Aleppo in August 2013.

“Happy Birthday to my best friend and big brother Steven! Words can’t even express how much I love and miss you! I know I will see your face soon…,” his sister, Lauren, wrote in a Facebook post in May.

While the Islamic State terrorist responsible for the murder and threats does speak English with a British accent, Hammond said the footage will need to be further analyzed before his nationality can be confirmed.

Cameron is cutting short his vacation in Cornwall to head back to London for meetings regarding the beheading.

“If true, the murder of James Foley is shocking and depraved,” Cameron wrote in a tweet. “I will today chair meetings on the situation in Iraq/Syria.”

Cameron’s spokesperson said he will meet with Hammond and senior officials from the Home Office, Foreign Office and other agencies “to discuss the situation in Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by Isil [Islamic State] terrorists.”

Hammond added that Britain would “consider” sending soldiers to Iraq to train Iraqi forces there — and pledged that the country will continue supporting the Iraqi government’s fight against the Islamic State.

US officials verified the authenticity of the grisly video Wednesday morning.

This wouldn’t be the first time a US journalist has been abducted by a British national in the Middle East. In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was captured in Pakistan by Brit Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. Pearl was beheaded later that year.